It's been a while since we had internet access so we could not update our site - but here is the latest. We are really roughing it now - 10 days without having internet access!
7-July-2004
The first thing we did in Salt Lake City was float in the Great Salt Lake. Not a particularly pleasant experience, since that lake is by far the dirtiest, stinkiest lake I have ever seen. After that we went to visit a friend of mine, Kristi Mickelsen, who I went to high school with. Her mother made a “cowboy dinner” for us that consisted of chicken and potatoes in dutch ovens. It was quite tasty. It was good to see Kristi and her family again, although I’m not sure that my sisters enjoyed the whole experience that much, being the anti-social bums that they are. We parked our camper in their driveway and slept the night there. The next day, they took us on a tour of the Mormon Tabernacle and Convention Center, which was very interesting. I think we all learned a lot, especially since we could talk to the Mickelsens about it, as they are members of the Mormon Church. In the afternoon, we went up on a tramway at a nearby ski resort, which was quite scenic and enjoyable. So that was that. Good times. – posted by Travis
8-July-2004
We stayed awhile at the Flying J so they could finish their Internet stuff. Then we went grocery shopping and spent a few hours and a bunch of money. We were going to some national parks so we had to stock up. After stopping at the Capitol Reef National Park visitor center for a little we went on a scenic drive there. It was slow going & on a dirt road but beautiful scenery in the canyon. When we came back, there was an apricot orchard & we picked & ate apricots until we were half sick, then took a few pounds with us. We ate supper along the road, then found a “campground” in an old empty place in Moab. We decided to eat some watermelon for a snack, and it tasted a bit odd. Kinda like soda, and it sort of stung your tongue. Pretty disgusting, actually. That was when we figured out it was carbonated from the dry ice we stuck in our cooler. Carbonated watermelon. Then we found out the apricots in there were carbonated as well. It was a funny experience, not very tasty, but funny. –posted by Lisa
9-10-July-2004
Went into Canyonlands Nat’l Park and camped there for 2 nights. There were no services-water, electric, etc, and it was very HOT there – over 100 during the days. But thankfully the nights cooled off enough to sleep pretty well, which was good cause we weren’t allowed to run the generator after 10 pm. On the 10th we drove over to Arches Nat’l Park which was about a half hr. away from Canyonlands. Did some hikes into various places to see the arches better. Roger and the kids had fun climbing up on some of the rocks. It was so hot that I didn’t feel much like hiking & didn’t always go with them. Three things we’ve learned to do on these hot hikes – take plenty of water, slather on the sun screen & wear hats. –posted by Jolene
11-July-2004
Today Roger & the 3 oldest went on a long drive into the canyon on 4 wheel drive roads. Renae opted to stay at the camper with me. They went along some cliff edges & did some other ridiculous things & I was quite glad I hadn’t gone along. Apparently it was beautiful though. Renae & I got stuff ready for supper, played games, read & I took a nap. It was about 3:30 till they got back. We quickly hooked up & left to pick up Travis who had taken a 7 mile hike. It was way too hot for that I thought (105 degrees), but he took lots of water along & said it wasn’t too bad. The generator conked out so we don’t even have the option of air conditioning. The truck was FILTHY so we went to a car wash & finally got it cleaned up. Drove toward Mesa Verde, stopping at a small truck stop to sleep along the way at Montecello UT. –posted by Jolene
12-July-2004
Dropped the camper at the entrance to Mesa Verde park this morning & spent the day in the park. What a place. –posted by Jolene
There are a whole bunch of villages in the alcoves of the ancient pueblo Indians. We took two tours down into two different villages. The second tour we went on we split up. Mom and I went on an easier one because the one the others went on there are sheer drop-offs on either side of you and have to go through an 18-inch tunnel and climb a 32 foot ladder up the cliff.. I have no idea how Dad fit through it, but the reason I didn’t go was because I am kinda afraid of heights. The one I went on was really neat and was the biggest one in the park. We went back to Cortez again and had KFC chicken for supper. –posted by Renae
Mesa Verde is an incredible National Park. It was fun learning about the culture (what little is known or assumed!) The cliff dwellings were amazing and reminded me of Machu Picchu . They were only inhabited for about 100 years, and everybody moved out in the late 1200’s – nobody knows exactly why - or why they even moved into those dwellings from the top of the mesa in the first place. I was surprised to see the ruins so well preserved in many of the alcoves. posted by Roger
13-July-2004
Drove all day and got to Bryce Canyon about supper time. Did chicken on the grill for supper. Renae is doing these Junior Ranger programs at the Nat’l Parks, so she needed to see a ranger presentation at this one, where we heard about birds, particularly the raven, at this one. She has to do some activities and then gets a badge and certificate when she’s done. She’s seeing how many badges she can collect. It doesn’t take much time & effort. –posted by Jolene
14-July-2004
Last night we set up camp at Bryce Canyon N.P., and this morning we drove around to all the lookout points. It was really cool looking from the top down into the canyon, because all the rock formations are so different and unique, but in the afternoon we hiked down into the canyon and got a completely different perspective. It’s beautiful. Tonight we got a call from Jill and Kevin (an aunt and uncle of ours) saying that they are about an hour away from Zion N.P, which is the place we’re planning on going next. So we’re gonna probably meet up with them and hopefully spend the next day with them, which would be a lot of fun. –posted by Nicole
15-July-2004
Today we met up with the Miller-Haughtons, in Zion N.P. They were in the same area of Utah as we were. It was fun seeing them again and we went on the shuttle around the park and then went on a short hike to a rock that was dripping with water. It felt so good, since it was hot outside. When we got back to the campground we were staying in, we took a swim in the river right in our campground. There had been flash flood warnings until 8 that evening. Soon after supper, Nicole rushed out and yelled that there was a flash flood at the river. We all ran to the river, and the water was rising very fast. A whole bunch of huge logs went down with the current along with tons of other debris. The water was rushing REALLY fast and kept on rising. Nicole went out onto the sand where we had been swimming. She was the only one that close. Soon a big river of water was coming from behind her where the sand was. I yelled, “Nicole, look behind you!” At first she didn’t do anything, but then she looked and ran right in front of it and got out just in time before that was flowing as fast as the other water.
-posted by Renae
I have never seen anything like the river we saw last night. It was AMAZING. Just an hour before it started flooding we had been swimming in that river, which was this little stream that came up to your knees and was hardly moving. After supper we were just sorta hanging around with Jill and Kevin and their girls roasting marshmallows when I just glanced at the river and I saw that it was very deep and flowing very fast with logs and sticks and tons of debris in it. It’s a good thing we weren’t still swimming in it, because it was flowing VERY fast and would just sweep you away. I ran toward the river and stood at the shore and watched and all of a sudden this wall of water came from behind me. It’s good Renae yelled, or I would have been stranded on this island thing in the middle. This was not the same river we were swimming in before! Now I understand why you’re not supposed to be down in the canyon when there are flash flood warnings. You’d be a goner! Well, that was today’s near-death experience. I’ll let you know tomorrows when it happens. –posted by Nicole
16-July-2004
This morning we took the shuttle and went on a hike before it got so hot with the Miller Haughtons. Then we drove through this pretty neat tunnel that was built into the mountain back in the 20’s. Said goodbye to Jill, Kevin, Rachel & Noelle and they were on their way home. It was pretty amazing how it worked out to be with them – we didn’t think it would work out but we were going the same way at about the exact same time. They were going to drive straight through to get home to San Diego (from Iowa visiting family), but stopped to spend a day with us. We are now entering Las Vegas, trying to figure out where we want to camp. We need a Flying J to get internet service again after being off for over a week, do laundry, etc. Driving here it was 110 degrees, now it’s cooled off to 107. We’ve decided we’ll eat out in one of the casinos tonight. I must say, I’ll be glad to get up north further to cooler temps. –posted by Jolene
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